The tremendous success of McAuliffe Junior High School in Park Hill has caused Denver Public Schools to rethink boundaries and busing. When McAuliffe left its Stapleton campus to move to the Smiley campus, Park Hill residents demanded priority in the school, even though only 20 percent had previously enrolled their kids in Smiley. Now, 80 percent of Park Hill residents want their kids to attend the Stapleton-kid school. “We would never have enrolled in Smiley,” admits Park Hill resident Mary Walsworth. “But, with an opportunity for my kids to get educated next to Stapleton kids, we can’t pass that up.” Park Hill Resident Joe Weber agrees. “You can smell the success on these kids,” says Weber. “I’m just hoping a little of it rubs off on my kids.”
In light of the success of McAuliffe, Denver Public Schools sees an opportunity to continue to work to keep more families in the Denver Public School system. “So many families in urban areas were choosing to attend private schools,” said Denver Superintendent of Schools Tom Boasberg. “We were losing the types of families who want to be involved in schools, as they were enrolling at private schools. Park Hill has become a great case study for us. If we can get the right kids, or in this case, Stapleton kids, to go to a community public school, we can keep a lot more families in our school system.”
Boasberg says now that the ship has been righted in Park Hill, thanks to Stapleton kids, the next community school system they plan to save is the Highlands. “So many people in Stapleton originally lived in the Highlands,” says Boasberg. “So, it is pretty easy to draw the conclusion the people can be somewhat similar. Right now, many families there are sending their kids to private schools. But, we think we can change that simply by injecting some Stapleton kids into the school system.” Boasberg says the plan is to start with the junior high, and then potentially the elementary schools. “Stapleton is a kid factory,” said Boasberg. “Instead of continuing to build more schools there, why not bus those kids to other schools to help improve them? It is a very simple plan, and we feel it will yield long-term success.”
Stapleton resident Nikki Clark does not support Boasberg’s plan. “The reason things have worked out well in Park Hill is because it is so close,” said Clark. “It is a neighboring community. I don’t think Stapeleton residents will support having their kids being bused to the Highlands, Five Points, or wherever.” Dave Stevens is also strongly against the plan. “I don’t like the idea that DPS simply plans to use our kids as a tool to improve their school system,” says Stevens. “Plus, how are they going to decide who has to go and who gets to stay? This is going to cause a lot of animosity.” Boasberg believes that enough Stapleton residents will step up and enroll in the system. “We feel enough residents in Stapleton think globally and will want to make other schools in Denver better,” said Boasberg. “If not, however, it’s draft time.”
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